This invention relates to a passenger transportation system for bicycles in general and in particular to such a system including a seat for safely and comfortably supporting a child as a passenger on the bicycle, a footrest for safely and comfortably supporting the passenger's feet, and to a safety belt system for securing and restraining the passenger in a safe, comfortable and effective way on the bicycle.
The prior art demonstrates that a system for safely transporting a rider and a passenger on a bicycle has long been sought. In particular, a need exists for a transportation system for comfortably and safely seating a young child on a bicycle with his rider parent. The prior art shows many such systems that are limited to seats for mounting on a bicycle both in front of and behind the main seat. All of these systems suffer from various shortcomings. Primarily, they are not readily and easily attachable to the bicycle and just as easily removable. Thus, a parent who wishes to bicycle-ride solo must either carry the seat with him or spend time removing the seat and then later installing it when taking the child for a ride. A further deficiency of prior art systems is that no footrest is provided for the child passenger. This puts the child in the uncomfortable position of simply dangling his feet on either side of the horizontal bar. This position is dangerous as well as uncomfortable for several reasons. First of all, it is possible for the child's foot to become caught in the spokes of the front wheel of the bicycle leading to foot injuries. In addition, should the child's foot become entangled in the spokes, the entanglement itself may cause the bicycle to spill, thereby potentially leading to greater injuries to the child, injuries to the adult rider, injuries to other riders or pedestrians near the bicycle spill, and damage to the bicycle itself.
As noted, auxiliary seats for carrying bicycle passengers are well known, the most common of which are those which are supported on the rear fender of the bicycle behind the main seat. Such seats have a number of disadvantages. The major problem is that the child is seated behind the adult, thus making it impossible for the adult riding on the main seat of the bicycle to maintain visual contact with the child for safety reasons. Because of the rearward disposition of such seats behind the main bicycle seat, the momentum generated when negotiating turns creates a tendency to throw the child sideways off of the rearwardly disposed seat. Also, the child's view is blocked by the adult, thus significantly detracting from the riding experience on the part of the child passenger. Such fender-mounted seats also require special hardware and fasteners by means of which they are permanently attached to the bicycle rear fender or frame.
Auxiliary seats which are mounted forwardly of the main seat on bicycles are also known. However, most of those seats are duplicates of the standard bicycle seat and are mounted by special brackets and hardware requiring the use of fasteners and tools. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,550,200 (Murrell), 2,448,867 (Darden), 2,234,299 (Christy), and 579,514 (Collins) all are in that general category.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,532 issued to John F. Reminger discloses a carrier for mounting on the horizontal bar of a man's bicycle, forwardly of the main seat. The embodiment shown in FIG. 11 of the Reminger patent is mounted on the horizontal bar of the bicycle by means of two downwardly depending gripping arms; however, special, resilient tension members in the form of supporting wires are hooked to the side walls of the carrier, and are required to secure the carrier in place on the bicycle frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,453 issued to John D. Robbin et al also discloses an auxiliary seat mounted on the horizontal bar of a man's bicycle, forwardly of the main seat. However, the auxiliary seat is of the same structure and configuration as a standard bicycle seat, and is supported on a post. The post is secured to the horizontal bar of the bicycle by means of a two-piece tubular assembly which is secured around the horizontal bar by means of hose clamps.
Various safety belt systems for securing passengers in and on vehicles are known. However, there are no known safety belt systems, to my knowledge, which are particularly adapted for securing a passenger, such as a child, in front of an adult seated on a main vehicle seat. The safety belt system disclosed herein has been developed with such a purpose in mind, i.e., to accommodate and secure a passenger, on an auxiliary seat constructed and arranged to be supported in front of the main seat of a bicycle. The belt system of this invention has been developed with a view towards accommodating such a dual passenger seating arrangement, with a belt provided for the adult and secured to an adult passenger serving as an attachment means for a safety belt secured around a child seated immediately in front of the adult.
Thus, a need exists for a bicycle footrest to prevent injuries. Such a footrest should be easily attachable, safe to use, non-damaging to pedestrians or riders the bicycle may pass, and light weight. Furthermore, there exists a need for an auxiliary seat which may be quickly and easily mounted on the horizontal bar of a bicycle, forwardly of the main seat, and which will comfortably and safely support passengers. There also exists a need for a harness to secure a passenger, most often a child, to the adult rider on the main bicycle seat. A complete bicycle transportation system comprising a footrest, seat and harness then, should be readily attachable and removable from the bicycle, safe, and support the child rider while providing a safe, fun and visually exciting ride.